


Pick-Me-Up

by heyacas (lilypond)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 12:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1858665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilypond/pseuds/heyacas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“We're closed,” Castiel yelled from the back room irritably as the bells above the door chimed.  Everything was finally cleaned and put away for the night, and he was ready to go <i>home</i>.  The customer could go make their own damn coffee.  People did still keep coffeepots in the house, didn't they?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pick-Me-Up

“We're closed,” Castiel yelled from the back room irritably as the bells above the door chimed. Everything was finally cleaned and put away for the night, and he was ready to go _home._ The customer could go make their own damn coffee. People did still keep coffeepots in the house, didn't they?

“What? No, you – you've gotta be kidding me. You don't close until ten!”

“Well, we closed early tonight!” Castiel snapped as he stepped out of the employees-only door, arms crossed tightly over his chest, ready for an argument.

What he found instead was the most _gorgeous_ man he'd ever seen, shoulders slumped, looking absolutely crushed. _Shit._ He could handle angry customers, would have welcomed a bit of yelling after the day he's had, but _this?_

“I'm...I'm sorry,” Castiel muttered, letting his arms drop to his sides. “The equipment's already put away and the register's closed out. I can't help you.”

“Dammit,” the man groaned, scrubbing a hand over his face and yawning pitifully.

“Studying late?” Castiel ventured. He looked a little younger than Castiel. He had to still be around college age.

The customer blinked at him and laughed. “Uh, no. Not for a few years now. But thanks, I think?” He shook his head. “No, I have to go to _work_ , dude. I come in here five nights a week, I _need_ this.”

“That can't be healthy,” Castiel murmured.

“You work at a coffee shop, and you're telling me not to drink coffee?”

Castiel shrugged, blushing.

“And anyway,” the man said with a smirk. “I'm a doctor. If anyone's allowed to have a few unhealthy habits, it's me.”

“Oh,” Castiel said, eyes widening. “You're – wait, at 9:30 at night?”

“Emergency room,” the man sighed.

“I just deprived an emergency room doctor of his nightly coffee,” Castiel said faintly.

The man shrugged. “Pretty much, yeah.”

Castiel buried his face in his hands with a groan. “I'm so, so sorry.”

“Hey, don't worry about it. You new? I've never seen you here before. Think I'd remember eyes like yours.”

Castiel blinked back at him in stunned silence. Was he _flirting_ with him? “Uh – no. I mean, no, I'm not new. I normally work the opening shift. I'm covering for Gabriel tonight. I just...I'm so sorry, it's a Tuesday night, there haven't been any customers in _two hours_ , I didn't think it'd matter if I closed up half an hour early...”

“I get it,” the man said. “Not your fault.”

“But it _is,_ ” Castiel groaned. “What if you're too tired to work safely now? What if you make a mistake because you're half asleep and _kill_ someone and it's all because _I_ wanted to go home early?”

The man stared at him. “Jesus, you sure have an imagination on you, don't you?”

Castiel shrugged glumly. “Gabriel would agree with you. He says I have an overactive imagination to make up for the fact that I'm so boring in real life.”

The man snorted. “Gabriel probably thinks everyone's boring compared to him. I know all the crazy shit he does on his days off, he never shuts up about it.” He cleared his throat. “Uh, so are you and him, like...?”

Castiel squinted at him in confusion for a moment. “What? Oh, no, he's – he's my brother.”

The man grinned again, face lighting up. “Oh, I know who you are! Cas...Castiel? He's told me about you. You're a writer, right? I'm Dean, by the way.”

“Yes, that's me. I didn't realize he talked to people about me.” Castiel said quietly. He shook his head. “I'm not much of a writer, anyway. If I was, I wouldn't still have to work for my brother, after all.”

“I dunno, Gabriel tells me you're pretty good.”

Castiel flushed. How did Gabriel know this man well enough to tell him so much about Castiel, when Castiel hadn't even known he existed?

“It doesn't compare to being a doctor, in any case,” Castiel mumbled.

“Well,” Dean smiled, leaning over the counter. “The world needs both of us. See, I keep people alive, then the artists, musicians, writers...people like you make the stuff that keeps life worth living. Right?”

Castiel was going to _die._ Dean was gorgeous, funny, understanding, charming, _sweet_ – and Castiel had managed to ruin his entire night within the first minute of meeting him.

“I – I suppose,” he said softly.

“Damn straight.” Dean glanced up at the clock on the wall. “Oh, shit, I gotta go. I have to be there in a few minutes.”

“But – your coffee?”

“Unless you're gonna pull a latte out of your ass, sweetheart, I think I'm gonna have to settle for some breakroom sludge tonight. Anyway, I'll see you later, Cas,” Dean said, leaving with a wink.

Castiel was going to go home, bury himself in blankets and pillows, and _never come out again._

Well. Maybe just once, to kill Gabriel.

\- - -

Gabriel couldn't stop laughing.

“It's not funny,” Castiel growled.

“It really, _really_ is, though. You never even skipped a class, Cassie. You _finally_ decide to cut out early at work - and don't get me wrong, I'm totally proud - and you still somehow manage to fuck it up.”

“Why were you talking to him about me, anyway?” Castiel squinted suspiciously up the ladder at his brother.

“Uh, I was _going_ to try to set you up on a date with him. Thought you'd get along great. He's a big nerd like you, wouldn't shut up when I mentioned Game of Thrones, and I _swear_ I saw a Lord of the Rings tattoo on his back when he bent over once. But I think you probably nipped that right in the bud, so good job!”

Castiel groaned, falling back against the wall. Gabriel was still snickering when the door chimed.

“Just a minute,” Gabriel called out. “Still not quite open!”

“You opened an hour ago,” a familiar voice sighed. Castiel stiffened.

“Oh, shit,” Gabriel giggled. “Well, go on, get out there.”

“I _can't_ ,” Castiel hissed. “ _You_ go.”

“Mm, nope, no can do. I'm just here for inventory today, remember? There's only one barista on the clock, and _he_ seems to be neglecting his customers right now...”

“I'm going to flush all of your M&Ms down the toilet,” Castiel growled before stalking out to the counter.

Dean's face lit up when he saw him.

“Heya, Cas. I was hoping you'd be here.”

“You – you were?”

“'Course I was,” Dean said with a warm smile.

Castiel's stomach fluttered pleasantly – he had to force himself to remember he'd already ruined everything, even on the off chance Dean would ever have been interested in a grouchy barista with a struggling writing career on the side in the first place.

Castiel swallowed hard. “So...what can I get you?”

“You guys make tea, right?”

Castiel blinked in surprise. “Oh, uh, yes.” He smiled tentatively. “Going to give up coffee after all?”

“Hell no. Not even a cute barista like you is gonna make me give up coffee. No, I just got _off_ of work, now I want something to help me sleep. There's tea for that, right?”

 _He said you're cute,_ Castiel's brain shouted. _Cute, cute, cute!_

“Yes, would you...like some?” _Of course he wants some, you idiot, why else would he have brought it up?_

But Dean just smiled patiently. “Please.”

Castiel busied himself preparing the herbal tea, avoiding Dean's eyes, though he could feel his gaze on his back as he worked.

Castiel handed the steaming cup to him with a shy smile.

“Awesome, thanks. How much?”

Castiel shook his head. “I'm not charging you for that after what I did to you the other night.”

Dean laughed. “Well, thanks. But you gotta let that go. Stop beating yourself up over it. Nobody died. Much.”

“... _much?”_

Dean winked and took a sip of his tea. He coughed immediately, eyes widening in horror. “Oh my _god,_ ” he groaned. “That's awful.”

“It's not to everyone's taste at first,” Castiel said delicately.

Dean sighed, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “I guess I'll just have to get used to it.”

Castiel tilted his head curiously. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

“Nah,” Dean said, slipping a few bills into the tip jar and walking towards the door. “But I need some excuse to keep coming in to see you after work, don't I?”

Castiel gaped at him, cheeks suddenly burning. Dean chuckled.

“You're especially cute when you blush, you know that?” He said with a warm smile, pushing the door open with his shoulder. “G'night, Cas.”

And then he was gone. Castiel's eyes caught on the tip jar, where something white was stuck in among the bills – looking suspiciously like a business card. He fished it out, breath catching in his throat when he flipped it over to find a phone number and _“call me”_ scrawled on the back.

He couldn't force the dopey grin off of his face, pulling his phone out of his pocket to program Dean's number in before anything could happen to the card.

“Totally meant for that to happen,” Gabriel called from the back room. “This was my plan all along.”

Castiel rolled his eyes. “I'm still flushing your M&Ms,” he called back.

Gabriel just cackled. “Oh, you'll thank me at the wedding.”

Castiel was still blushing when the next customer came in ten minutes later.

 

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://lilypond.co.vu)


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